ludwig



June 18, 1929. w LUDWlG 1,717,609

APPLIANCE FOR REENFORGING AND RESTORING ARCHES OF THE FEET Filed M y 8, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 18, 1929. w, LUDWIG 1,717,609

APPLIANCE FOR REENFORCING AND RESTORING ARCHES OF THE FEET Filed May 18, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i I I u l l I i t a u I lnvenTor.

Walker M. Ludwig AITys.

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Patented June 18, 1929.

UNITED STATES WALCEER M. L'UDWIG. OF IVIELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPLIANCE FOR REENFORCING AND RESTOR-ING ARCHES OF THE FEET.

Application filed May 18, 1925.

This invention relates to improvements in appliances commonly known as arch supports which appliances are designed to aid in supporting the arches of the foot and to prevent flat feet.

The object of the present invention is to provide an appliance for reenforcing the arches of the foot and which will also aid in restoring the same to normal position.

Oneof the objects of the invention is to provide means acting longitudinally of the foot to resist the depression of the arches of the foot.

Another object of the invention is to provide means acting longitudinally of the foot tending to shorten the span of the arches of the foot and thereby to restore the bones of the foot which have been displaced, to their normal position.

Another object of the invention is to provide an appliance of the character above described with means acting when pressure is applied to the foot to prevent lateral separagion of the metatarsals and phalanges of the oot.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described with means for resisting lateral separation of the bones forming the crest of the arch of the skeleton of the foot when pressure is applied to it.

Another object of the invention-is to provide an appliance for reenforcing the arches of the foot comprising flexible means extending longitudinally of the foot and tending to resist the depression of the arch in combination with other means extending around the foot and around the leg above the ankle joint in substantial parallelism to the transverse ligaments of the foot, such as the transverse crural ligament and the cruciate cruralligament.

In short the object of the invention is to provide a mechanical device which conforms, in so far as is possible, in its action to the action of the normal ligaments and muscles of the foot and which will so act as to reenforce such muscles and ligaments of the foot and enable them in a relatively short time to restore displaced bones of the foot to their nor mal position, thus enabling the ligaments, muscles and tendons to resume their pristine strength.

Other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings Serial No. 30,962.

and will be particularly pointed out in the claims. 4

In the drawings:

Fig. l is an elevation of the outside of the foot showing a preferred form of the appliance embodying the present invention secured thereto; F

Fig. 2 is a similar elevation of the inside of the foot;

Fig. 3 is a developed plan view of a preferred form of appliance embodying the invention;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a human foot illustrating the principal muscles, tendons and ligaments in their normal position and in dotted lines a preferred embodiment of the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 5 is a diagrannnatic View illustrating particularly the skeleton of the foot showing particularly the medial arch of the foot and illustrating the appliance embodying the present invention in its relation thereto.

The object of the present invention as above mentioned is to provide an appliance for the human foot which will act when the weight of the body is imposed upon the foot in the same general directions as the normal ligaments, tendons and muscles of the foot and aid them, first, in their efforts to restore displaced bones of the foot and, second, by

supplementing their action will relieve them from abnormal strain and thereby enable the natural restoring processes of the body to restore the strained ligaments, tendons and muscles to their pristine condition.

This is ZICCOHIPllSlIQCl in the present invention by providing tension means extending longitudinally of the foot having at its opposite ends means respectively engaging the anterior portion of the foot and the heel of the foot and acting when pressure is applied to the foot, first, to resist the depression of the arches of the foot and, second during the flexurc of the ankle when the weight of the body is applied to the toe portion of the foot in walking to act upon the tension member in such a manner as to cause it to shorten or to tend to shorten the span of the arches of the foot.

In order more accurately to describe the construction and partici'ilarly the function of the appliance embodying the present invention I have illustrated and will briefly describe the principal members of the foot which are influenced by the appliance cmbodying the present invention.

The skeleton structure of the foot is of general triangular or pyramidal form, the base of the triangle being the sole of the foot and the legs of the triangle or pyramid converging upwardly therefrom to the crest of the arch of the skeleton. The legs of the triangle or pyramid rest upon the base in essentially three points forming a three-point support.

The main arches of the foot are the antero-posterior arches which may, for descriptive purposes, be divisible into two parts, a medial and a lateral. The medial arch is made up by the calcaneous 1, the talus 2, the navicular 3, the three cuneiforms 4:, and the first, second and third metatarsals 5 which articulate at their anterior ends with the first row of phalanges.

The chief supports for the bony pyramid of the arch of the foot comprises the plantar tendons and muscles, the most powerful one of which the plantar ligament 7 is illustrated in Fig. 5. This ligament and its muscles connects the anterior metatarsal bones of the foot with the calcaneus.

The articulation'of the foot which is produced by numerous muscles, tendons and ligaments in Walking is largely contributed to by the action of the Achilles tendon S and the muscles of the leg to which it is attached.

The bones of the foot are maintained in their proper relation transversely by numerous muscles and tendons and ligaments, among which some of the most import-ant comprise the transverse ligaments 9 which connect the several metatarsals, the cruciate crural ligament 10 which is of general Y shape and extends transversely across the foot in front of the ankle joint and the transverse crural ligament 11 which extends transversely above the angle joint and binds down the superior tendons of the foot.

The present invention comprises various members which extend and act in substantial parallelism with these main ligaments of the foot and as the other ligaments, tendons and muscles of the foot, although complexedly interlaced, extend in the same general direction as those above described; the actions of such ligaments, tendons and muscles is likewise reenforced and supplementad by the present invention.

The present invention comprises tension means extending and acting longitudinally of the foot having means engaging respectively the anterior portion of the foot and the heel, the posterior end of the tension means desirably being connected to means located above the ankle joint and operable by the forward movement of the leg in walking to impose force or to increase the force applied to the tension member. It also comprises preferably elastic means embracing the instep portion of the foot and extending in substantial parallelism with the cruciate crural ligament operable to supplement the action of this ligament and to prevent lateral displacement of the numerous small bones of the foot when the foot is placed under pressure.

The particular embodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings comprises a tension member 12, preferably a relatively Wide band of iii-elastic fibrous material, which extends longitudinally of the footand is located below the sole of the foot and extends beneath and upwardly around the heel. It is connected at its rear end to a transverse band or strap, which may be termed the ankle band, preferably having'inelastic sections 13 which are rigidly secured to the tension member and diverge forwardly therefrom and an elastic section 1a adapted to embrace the leg above the ankle. The ten sion member or band 12 is connected at its forward end to a flexible band which embraces the anterior portion of the foot containing the metatarsal bones. This band desirably is formed in sections 15 and 16 which are secured to the tension member and are provided with detachable means for connecting their ends together. The means illustrated comprises a relatively narrow band or strap 17 having adjustably secured to it a hook 18 adapted to engage a complementary eye 19 secured to the section 15. One or both sections of the band which embraces the anterior portion of the foot desirably is provided with an elastic section 20 as illustrated in Fig. 3.

The appliance also desirably includes a transverse band or strap which is connected to the tension member 12 beneath the longitudinal arch of the foot and passes around the instep. As illustrated herein this band comprises an elastic section 22 which is secured midway of its length to the tension member and iii-elastic sections 23 and 24 con nected to the respective'ends of the elastic section 22.

Suitable means may be provided for adj ustably securing the ends of these sections together, such as a relatively narrow strap connected to the section .3 and having adj ustably secured to it a hook 26 adapted to engage a complementary loop 27 upon the in-elastic section 24. Desirably an in-elastic band is connected at its ends to the sections 23 and 24 of this median band and when applied to the foot extends substantially horizontally around the heel portion of the foot and is connected to the tension member 12 at the rear of the heel.

In placing the appliance upon the foot the ankle band is first placed about the leg above the ankle joint. The tension member is then passed beneath the heel and longitudinally of the sole of the foot and the anterior band secured firmly, but not tightly. about the an terior portion of the foot which includes the lilt) 3 the heel.

metatarsal bones. The median band is then likewise buckled firmly, but not too tightly, about the instep portion of the foot. The tension. placed upon these two bands desirably is not so great as to constrict the foot or to interfere with the free flow of the blood through the arteries and veins of the foot either when pressure is not applied to the foot or in standing upon the feet. hen, however, the leg is bent forward in the act of walking the forward movement of the leg above the ankle joint draws the ankle band forward and thereby pulls upon the tension member which extends beneath and around This tensioning of the tension member 12 produces numerous effects as the weight of the body is imposed upon the anterior portion of the sole. First, the tightening of the tension member beneath the sole of the foot acts in the direction of the longitudinal tendons and muscles of the foot by applying forces to the anterior and heel portion of the foot in alinement with the horizontal leg of the triangle of the arch of the foot in such a manner that depression of the arch is resisted. Second, the tensioning of this longitudinally extending band tends to rotate the posterior end of the calcaneus forwardly about the articulations between it and the cuboid talus and navicular bones of the crest of the arch in such a manner as to shorten or tend to shorten the medial and lateral arches of the foot. This occurs by reason of the fact that the posterior end of the talus is essentially of arcuate form, the radii of the are having their center in the crest of the arch so that the forces applied by the tension member around the arcuate portion of the heel produces a resultant force which produces a substantially horizontal pressure toward the anterior portion of the foot while the anterior band which surrounds the portion of the foot containing the metatarsal bones is simultaneously drawn by the tension rearwardly.

The force thus applied through the ankle band to the tension member likewise has a tendency to draw the appliance rearwardly and, therefore, produces a tension upon the anterior band which supplements the action of the transverse ligaments and muscles of the anterior port-ion of the foot and aids in resisting transverse displacement of the bones and muscles. The median band which extends over the arch of the foot and overlies andextends in substantial parallelism with the cruciate crural ligament also supplements the action of this ligament and other transverse ligaments in preventing lateral displacement of the bones of the arch of the foot. The ankle band which extends in parallelism with the transverse crural ligament also supplements the action of this ligament.

The appliance, therefore, operates during the action of the foot in Walking to reenforce the longitudinal and transverse tendons, muscles and ligaments of the foot, resisting depression of the arches of the foot and maintaining the bones of the foot in their normal positions as Well as relieving undue stresses upon the muscles and tendons of the foot.

The appliance has a still further action, however, in that its tendency to shorten the arches of the foot operates to restore displaced bones of the skeleton of the foot to their normal positions and to retain them in such normal positions. The strain, therefore, upon the ligaments, tendons and muscles of the foot is thus relieved so that the natural replacements of the cells may take place freely and rapidly and the ligaments, tendons and muscles in a comparatively short time restored to their original conditions and strength.

Use of this appliance has demonstrated that the breaking down of the arches can be effectively prevented and that broken down arches can be completely restored to normal position in a relatively short time so that the appliance can be discarded.

It is to be understood that the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated and described herein is of an illustrative character, and that variations in form, construction and arrangement of parts of the appliance may be made to embody the principles thereof as defined in the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. An appliance for reenforcing the arches of the foot and for aiding in restoring the same to normal position when displaced comprising a flexible inelastic tension member located beneath and extending longitudinally of the sole of the foot having means engaging respectively the anterior portion of the foot and extending beneath and around the heel portion of the foot and embracing the leg above the ankle and acting when pressure is applied to the foot to resist depression of the arches of the foot and flexible means connected to said tension member transversely embracing the instep portion of the foot, acting to prevent lateral displacement of the bones of the arches of the foot when pressure is applied to the foot.

2. An appliance for reenforcing the arches of the foot and for aiding in restoring the same to normal position when displaced comprising a tension member located beneath and extending longitudinally of the sole of the foot and beneath and upwardly around the heel thereof, having at one end means to engage the anterior portion of the foot and at the other end means engaging the leg above the ankle joint for applying tension upon said member during fiexure of the ankle when the weight of the body is applied to the anterior portion of the foot thereby tending to shorten the span of the arches of the foot.

3. An appliance for reenforcing the arches of the foot and for aiding in restoring the same to normal position when displaced comprising a flexible anterior band embracing the portion of the foot containing the metatarsal bones, a flexible tens-ion member connected to said anterior band underlying the sole and heel of the foot and extending longitudinally of the sole and thence :upwardly around the central portion ofthe heel in-substantial parallelism with the Achilles tendon and means embracing the legabove the ankle joint connected to said tension member acting upon forward bending of the ankle to cause the tension member to exert upon the anterior and heel portions of the foot forces tending to shorten the span of the arches of the foot.

' 4. An appliance for reenforcing the arches of the foot and foriaiding in restoring the same to normal position when displaced, comprising a resilent Jflexible anterior band embracing the portion of the footcontaining the metatarsal bones, a flexible tension member connected .thereto underlying the sole of the foot-andextending longitudinally thereof in substantial paral lelism with .the plantar ligament and thence upwardly around the rear central portionof the heel and an elastic band embracing-the leg above the ankle joint connected to said tension member acting upon forward bending of the ankle to cause said tension member to exert forces tending to shorten the span of the archesof the foot and also acting to increase the tension upon the resilient flexible anterior band and thereby to reenforce the action of the transverse tendons and muscles of the foot.

' 5. An appliance for reenforcingthe arches of the foot and for aiding inrestoring them to normal position when displaced, comprising a flexible anterior band embracing the portion of the foot containing the metatarsal bones, an inelastic flexible tension member connected thereto underlying and extending longitudinally of the sole of the foot in substantial parallelism with the plantar ligament and thence upwardly around the rear central portion of the heel and a band connectedto said tension member embracing the leg abovethe ankle joint and extending in substantial parallelism with and in proximity to the transverse crural ligament.

6. An appliance for reenforcing the arches of the foot and for, aiding in restoring them to normal position when displaced, comprising a flexible anterior band embracing the portion of the footcontaining the metatarsal bones, a flexible tension member connected thereto underlying and extending longitudinally of the sole of the foot in substantial parallelism with the plantar ligament and thence extending upwardly around the rear of the heel in substantial parallelism with the Achilles tendon, a band connected to said tension member embracing the leg above the ankle joint and extending in substantial parallelism with and in proximity to the transverse crural ligament and a band connected to said tension member embracing said foot in proximity to and extending in the gen eral direction of the cruciate crural ligament acting to reenforce the action of said ligament and to prevent displacement of the articulated bones of the arch of the foot.

7. An appliance for reenforcing the arches of the foot comprising an adjustable band embracing the anterior portion of the foot, a flexible band underlying the sole of the foot and extending longitudinally thereof in parallelism with the plantar ligament and thence upwardly around the heel in parallelism with the Achilles tendon, an adjustable band connected to said tension band extending around the leg above the ankle joint and an adjustable band connected to said tension band en'ibracing the instep of the foot.

8. An appliance for reenforcing the arches of the foot comprising a resilient band embracing the anterior portion of the foot, a non-resilient band underlying the sole of the foot and extending upwardly longitudinally thereof in substantial parallelism with the plantar ligament and thence around the heel in parallelism with the Achilles tendon, a resilient band connected to said tension band extending around the leg above the ankle joint and a resilient band connected to said tension band embracing the instep portion of the foot.

9. An appliance for reenforcing the arches of the foot comprising aresilient band embracing the anterior portion of the foot, a non-resilient band underlying the sole of the foot and extending longitudinally thereof in substantial paralleism with the plantar ligament and thence upwardly around the heel in paralleism with the Achilles tendon, a resilient band connected to said tension band extending around the leg above the ankle joint, a resilient band connected to said tension band embracing the instep portion of the foot and flexible bands located at opposite sides of the foot connected to the band which embraces the arch of the foot and to the tension member at the rear of the heel.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

WALTER M. LUDWIG. 

